1、大学英语六级改革适用（阅读）模拟试卷 249及答案与解析 Section C 0 The period of adolescence, i.e., the period between childhood and adulthood, may be long or short, depending on social expectations and on societys definition as to what constitutes maturity and adulthood. In primitive societies adolescence is frequently a re
2、latively short period of time, while in industrial societies with patterns of prolonged education coupled with laws against child labor, the period of adolescence is much longer and may include most of the second decade of ones life. Furthermore, the length of the adolescent period and the definitio
3、n of adulthood status may change in a given society as social and economic conditions change. Examples of this type of change are the disappearance of the frontier in the latter part of the nineteenth century in the United States, and more universally, the industrialization of an agricultural societ
4、y. In modern society, ceremonies for adolescence have lost their formal recognition and symbolic significance and there no longer is agreement as to what constitutes initiation ceremonies. Social ones have been replaced by a sequence of steps that lead to increased recognition and social status. For
5、 example, grade school graduation, high school graduation and college graduation constitute such a sequence, and while each step implies certain behavioral changes and social recognition, the significance of each depends on the socio-economic status and the educational ambition of the individual. Ce
6、remonies for adolescence have also been replaced by legal definitions of status roles, rights, privileges and responsibilities. It is during the nine years from the twelfth birthday to the twenty-first that the protective and restrictive aspects of childhood and minor status are removed and adult pr
7、ivileges and responsibilities are granted. The twelve-year-old is no longer considered a child and has to pay full fare for train, airplane, theater and movie tickets. Basically, the individual at this age loses childhood privileges without gaining significant adult rights. At the age of sixteen the
8、 adolescent is granted certain adult rights, which increases his social status by providing him with more freedom and choices. He now can obtain a drivers license; he can leave public schools; and he can work without the restrictions of child labor laws. At the age of eighteen the law provides adult
9、 responsibilities as well as rights; the young man can now be a soldier, but he also can marry without parental permission. At the age of twenty-one the individual obtains his full legal rights as an adult. He now can vote, he can buy liquor, he can enter into financial contracts, and he is entitled
10、 to run for public office. No additional basic rights are acquired as a function of age after majority status has been attained. None of these legal provisions determine at what point adulthood has been reached but they do point to the prolonged period of adolescence. 1 The period of adolescence is
11、much longer in industrial societies because _. （ A） the definition of maturity has changed （ B） the industrialized society is more developed （ C） more education is provided and laws against child labor are made （ D） ceremonies for adolescence have lost their formal recognition and symbolic significa
12、nce 2 Former social ceremonies that used to mark adolescence have given place to _. （ A） graduations from schools and colleges （ B） social recognition （ C） socio-economic status （ D） certain behavioral changes 3 No one can expect to fully enjoy the adulthood privileges until he is _. （ A） eleven yea
13、rs old （ B） sixteen years old （ C） twenty-one years old （ D） between twelve and twenty-one years old 4 Starting from 22, _. （ A） one will obtain more basic rights （ B） the older one becomes, the more basic rights he will have （ C） one wont get more basic rights than when he is 21 （ D） one will enjoy
14、 more rights granted by society 5 We can learn from the passage that_. （ A） in the late 19th century in the United States the length of adolescence changed a lot. （ B） no one can marry without the permission of his parents until the age of twenty-one. （ C） one is considered to have reached adulthood
15、 when he has a drivers license. （ D） one is not free from the restrictions of child labor laws until he can join the army. 5 The estimates of the numbers of home-schooled children vary widely. The U. S. Department of Education estimates there are 250,000 to 350,000 home-schooled children in the coun
16、try. Home-school advocates put the number much higher at about a million. Many public school advocates take a harsh attitude toward home schoolers, perceiving their actions as the ultimate slap in the face for public education and a damaging move for the children. Home schoolers harbor few kind word
17、s for public schools, charging shortcomings that range from lack of religious perspective in the curriculum to a herdlike approach to teaching children. Yet, as public school officials realize they stand little to gain by remaining hostile to the home-school population, and as home schoolers realize
18、 they can reap benefits from public schools, these hard lines seem to be softening a bit. Public schools and home schoolers have moved closer to tolerance and, in some cases, even cooperation. Says John Marshall, an educational official, “We are becoming relatively tolerant of home schoolers. The id
19、ea is, Lets give the kids access to public school so theyll see its not as terrible as what theyve been told, and theyll want to come back.“ Perhaps, but dont count on it, say home-school advocates. Home schoolers oppose the system because they have strong convictions that their approach to educatio
20、n whether fueled by religious enthusiasm or the individual childs interests and natural pace is best. “The bulk of home schoolers just want to be left alone,“ says Enge Cannon, associate director of the National Center For Home Education. She says home schoolers choose that path for a variety of rea
21、sons, but religion plays a role 85 percent of the time. Professor Van Galen breaks home schoolers into two groups. Some home schoolers want their children to learn not only traditional subject matter but also “strict religious doctrine and a conservative political and social perspective. Not inciden
22、tally, they also want their children to learn both intellectually and emotionally that the family is the most important institution in society.“ Other home schoolers contend “not so much that the schools teach heresy (异端邪说 ), but that schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately,“ Van Galen wri
23、tes. “These parents are highly independent and strive to take responsibility for their own lives within a society that they define as bureaucratic and inefficient.“ 6 According to the passage, home schoolers are _. （ A） those who engage private teachers to provide additional education for their chil
24、dren （ B） those who educate their children at home instead of sending them to school （ C） those who advocate combining public education with home schooling （ D） those who dont go to school but are educated at home by their parents 7 Public schools are softening their position on home schooling becau
25、se _. （ A） there isnt much they can do to change the present situation （ B） they want to show their tolerance for different teaching systems （ C） home schooling provides a new variety of education for children （ D） public schools have so many problems that they cannot offer proper education for all
26、children 8 Home-school advocates are of the opinion that_. （ A） things in public schools are not so bad as has often been said （ B） their tolerance of public education will attract more kids to public schools （ C） home schooling is superior and, therefore, they will not easily give in （ D） their inc
27、reased cooperation with public school will bring about the improvement of public education 9 Most home schoolers opposition to public education stems from their _. （ A） respect for the interests of individuals （ B） worry about the inefficiency of public schools （ C） concern with the cost involved （
28、D） devotion to religion 10 According to Van Galen some home schoolers believe that_. （ A） public schools take up a herdlike approach to teaching children （ B） teachers in public school are not as responsible as they should be （ C） public schools cannot provide an education that is good enough for th
29、eir children （ D） public schools are the source of bureaucracy and inefficiency in modern society 10 Three English dictionaries published recently all lay claim to possessing a “new“ feature. The BBC English Dictionary contains background information on 1,000 people and places prominent in the news
30、since 1988; the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary: Encyclopedic (百科全书的 ) Edition is the OALD plus encyclopedic entries; the Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture is the LDOCE plus cultural information The key fact is that all three dictionaries can be seen to have a distinctly “cultur
31、al“ as well as language learning content. That being said, the way in which they approach the cultural element is not identical, making direct comparisons between the three difficult. While there is some common ground between the encyclopedic, cultural entries for the Oxford and Longman dictionaries
32、, there is a clear difference. Oxford lays claim to being encyclopedic on content whereas Longman distinctly concentrates on the language and culture of the English-speaking world. The Oxford dictionary can therefore stand more vigorous scrutiny for cultural bias than the Longman publication because
33、 the latter does not hesitate about viewing the rest of the world from the cultural perspectives of the English-speaking world. The cultural objectives of the BBC dictionary are in turn more distinct still. Based on an analysis of over 70 million words recorded from the BBC World Service and Nationa
34、l Public Radio of Washington over a period of four years, their 1,000 brief encyclopedic entries are based on people and places that have featured in the news recently. The intended user they have in mind is a regular listener to the World Service who will have a reasonable standard of English and a
35、 developed skill in listening comprehension. In reality, though, the BBC dictionary will be purchased by a far wider range of language learners, as will the other two dictionaries. We will be faced with a situation where many of the users of these dictionaries will at the very least have distinct so
36、cio-cultural perspectives and may have world views which are totally opposed and even hostile to those of the West. Advanced learners from this kind of background will not only evaluate a dictionary on how user-friendly it is but will also have definite views about the scope and appropriateness of t
37、he various socio-cultural entries. 11 What feature sets apart the three dictionaries discussed in the passage from traditional ones? （ A） The combination of two dictionaries into one. （ B） The new approach to defining words. （ C） The inclusion of cultural content. （ D） The increase in the number of
38、entries. 12 The Longman dictionary is more likely to be criticized for cultural prejudice because _. （ A） its scope of cultural entries goes beyond the culture of the English-speaking world （ B） it pays little attention to the cultural content of the non-English-speaking countries （ C） it views the
39、world purely from the standpoint of the English-speaking world （ D） it fails to distinguish language from culture in its encyclopedic entries 13 The BBC dictionary differs from Oxford and Longman in that _. （ A） it has a wider selection of encyclopedic entries （ B） it is mainly designed to meet the
40、needs of radio listeners （ C） it lays more emphasis on language than on culture （ D） it is intended to help listeners develop their listening comprehension skills 14 It is implied in the last paragraph that, in approaching socio-cultural content in a dictionary, special thought should be given to _.
41、 （ A） the language levels of its users （ B） the number of its prospective purchasers （ C） the different tastes of its users （ D） the various cultural backgrounds of its users 15 What is the passage mainly about? （ A） Different ways of treating socio-cultural elements in the three new English diction
42、aries. （ B） A comparison of peoples opinions on the cultural content in the three new English dictionaries. （ C） The advantages of the BBC dictionary over Oxford and Long-man. （ D） The user-friendliness of the three new English dictionaries. 15 One night in the early 1600s Galileo got tired of using
43、 the newfangled (新花样的 ) telescope to spot ships and pointed it to the heavens instead. Suddenly the moon had mountains. A fleet of moons encircled Jupiter. And people would never again gaze at the night sky in the same way. Now astronomers looked 8,000 light-years into the cosmos with the Hubble Spa
44、ce Telescope. Orbiting 370 miles up, above city lights and the rippling atmosphere, Hubble has confirmed the existence of black holes, revealed a gallery of bizarre galaxies, and chronicled the catastrophic (灾难的 ) explosions of dying stars. Not bad for a satellite that in the beginning had something
45、 of a catastrophic reputation itself, Hubble was lifted into orbit with great expectation by the space shuttle Discovery in April 1990. Almost immediately it was clear that the primary mirror was misshapen (变形的 ) not to the extreme but enough to pull some lace curtains across Hubbles “window on the
46、universe.“ The telescopes true golden age began in December 1993, when the crew of the shuttle Endeavor rode to the rescue. With hinged doors and modular (组合式的 ) parts, Hubble was designed to be serviced in space like roadside mechanics, the astronauts pulled up to Hubble, opened the hood, and insta
47、lled replacement parts. They included corrective mirrors that canceled out the existing mirror flaw. In the following months astronomers marveled at razor-sharp views of a universe dizzy with exploding stars and colliding galaxies, stretching off from here to the edge of eternity. When you look into
48、 space, you are looking back through time. Even at 186,000 miles a second, light requires a measurable amount of time to get from one place to another. Sunlight bounced off the moon requires a second to reach earth, so when you look at the moon, you are actually looking at the moon a second ago. Wit
49、h its unobstructed view, Hubble can look back some 11 billion years just two billion years or so after the creation of the universe to see galaxies already forming. These galaxies are speeding away from us. The farther they are, the faster theyre going the most distant approach the speed of light. In the 1920s astronomer Edwin Hubble came up with a formula that expresses the proportional relationship of distances between clusters of galaxies and the speeds at which they are moving. For the
